STATE  OF  NEW-YORK. 


No.  53. 


IN  SENATE, 

March  15,  1837. 


REPORT 

Of  the  Canal  Board  on  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie 

canal. 

TO  THE  SENATE. 

The  Canal  Board,  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolution  of  the 
Senate,  of  the  21st  ult.,  calling  on  them  for  their  opinion  in  rela- 
tion to  certain  matters  concerning  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  ca- 
nal, have  the  honor  to  present  the  following 

REPORT. 

The  resolution  naturally  divides  itself  into  three  distinct  branch- 
es, viz: 

"  1st.  Whether,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Board,  it  be  not  for  the  in- 
terest of  the  State  to  proceed  with  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  ca- 
nal, so  that  the  same  may  be  completed  sooner  than  is  contemplat- 
ed by  the  act  in  relation  to  the  Erie  canal,  passed  May  11,  1835. 

11 2d.  Whether  from  the  surveys,  examinations  anfl  estimates 
now  possessed,  they  believe  said  enlargement  can  be  completed  at 
the  cost  heretofore  estimated,  and  if  not,  at  what  additional  cost, 
including  damages  to  individuals. 

"  3d.  How  long  the  navigation  of  said  canal  will  be  interrupted 
by  said  enlargement,  and  what  amount  of  tolls  will  be  thereby  lost 
to  the  State  during  the  time  said  work  is  in  prosecution." 

[Senate,  No.  53.]  A 


These  inquiries  the  Board  will  proceed  to  answer  in  the  order  in 
w  hich  they  are  above  presented. 

1st.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  Hoard  "  that  it  is  for  the  interest  of 
the  State  to  proceed  with  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  canal,  so 
that  it  may  be  completed  sooner  than  is  contemplated  by  the  act 
of  May  1  1,  1835.'' 

On  the  30th  March,  1835,  the  Canal  Board  in  a  report  to  the  As- 
sembly, (page  7  of  Document  334,)  made  the  following  observa- 
tions: 

"  In  urging  upon  the  consideration  of  the  Legislature  the  impor- 
tance of  authorizing,  at  the  present  session,  such  an  enlargement  of 
the  Erie  canal  as  is  conceived  to  be  necessary  to  adapt  it  to  the  in- 
creasing trade  of  the  country,  the  Canal  Board  desire  to  have  it 
distinctly  understood,  that  they  do  not  recommend  such  an  expen- 
diture of  money  upon  this  work  as  will  interfere  with  the  arrange- 
ments now  in  progress  for  accumulating  a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  the 
Erie  and  Champlain  canal  debt,  and  for  restoring  the  auction  and 
salt  duties  to  the  General  Fund.  The  nett  proceeds  of  the  Canal 
Fund  for  1835,  1836  and  1837,  will  probably  be  sufficient  to  pay 
the  balance  of  the  canal  debt,  and  meet  the  disbursements  on  the 
contracts  for  doubling  the  locks.  At  the  close  of  1837,  the  auc- 
tion and  salt  duties  will  be  restored  to  the  General  Fund,  if  the  pro- 
posed amendment  to  the  Constitution  should  receive  the  sanction 
of  the  people.  After  the  period  alluded  to,  the  nett  proceeds  of 
the  canal  tolls  will  be  sufficient  to  meet  the  disbursements  necessa- 
ry for  improving  and  enlarging  the  canal,  without  having  recourse 
to  new  loans  for  that  purpose." 

At  the  time  this  report  was  made,  it  was  supposed  that  the 
amount  which  would  be  annually  applicable  to  the  enlargement  of 
the  Erie  canal  immediately  after  the  restoration  of  the  auction  and 
salt  duties  to  the  General  Fund,  and  after  setting  apart  a  sufficient 
amount  to  discharge  the  Erie  and  Champlain  canal  debt,  would  be 
about  one  million  of  dollars,  and  that  this  amount  would  be  gradu- 
ally augmented  by  the  increase  of  business  on  the  canals  and  the 
amount  of  tolls  paid  thereon. 

The  9th  section  of  the  act  of  11th  May,  1835,  to  which  the  re- 
solution of  the  Senate  refers,  provides,  that  after  the  year  1837, 
the  expenditures  for  the  enlargement  of  the  canal  11  shall  be  so  li- 


No.  53.] 


3 


mited  as  to  leave  from  the  canal  revenues,  without  reference  to  the 
auction  and  salt  duties,  an  annual  income  to  the  State  of  at  least 
three  hundred  thousand  dollars  over  and  above  all  ordinary  repairs 
and  expenditures  on  the  Erie  and  Champlain  canals." 

The  amount  which  the  Board  supposed  would  be  annually  appli- 
cable to  the  enlargement  of  the  canal,  was  by  virtue  of  the  provi- 
sion above  quoted,  reduced  three  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

The  first  section  of  the  act  of  May  16,  1836,  chapter  356  of  the 
Session  Laws  of  that  year,  provides,  that  "  whenever  a  sufficient 
amount  of  money  shall  have  been  collected  and  safely  invested  to 
pay  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  debt  created  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  Erie  and  Champlain  canals,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of 
the  Commissioners  of  the  Canal  Fund  annually  to  loan  to  the  trea- 
sury of  this  State,  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  General  Fund,  from 
moneys  belonging  to  the  Canal  Fund,  the  sum  of  four  hundred 
thousand  dollars." 

The  operation  of  this  provision  is  to  reduce  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  more  the  amount  which  the  Board  supposed  would  be 
applicable  to  the  enlargement,  and  to  loan  the  four  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  reserved  by  the  two  acts  above  quoted,  to  the  General 
Fund. 

The  Canal  Board  in  a  report  made  to  the  Legislature  on  the 
26th  of  January,  1836,  under  the  act  passed  May  11,  1835,  (see 
Assembly  Documents  of  1836,  No.  98,  page  11,)  say,  "  The  funds 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Canal  Commissioners,  for  the  purposes  of  the 
law  under  which  they  are  now  acting,  will  be  too  limited  to  justi- 
fy a  commencement  of  the  work  on  every  part  of  the  line,  and  as 
speedy  a  prosecution  to  its  completion  as  an  unlimited  appropria- 
tion would  admit.  It  is  therefore  deemed  advisable  to  confine  the 
operations  to  the  line  between  Albany  and  Syracuse,  until  such 
time  as  the  funds  will  justify  a  beginning  on  other  parts  of  it,  with- 
out interfering  with  the  speedy  completion  of  the  work  on  the  line 
above  referred  to." 

In  the  annual  report  of  the  Canal  Commissioners,  made  to  the 
Legislature  on  the  25th  of  January,  1837,  (Assembly  Document, 
No.  73,)  it  is  said  at  page  22,  "The  work  under  contract  is  to  be 
completed  at  different  periods  in  the  years  1837,  1838  and  1839." 


4 


[Senate 


At  page  23,  it  is  said,  "  The  estimated  cost  of  the  work  under 
contract,  (exclusive  of  damages,)  is  $3,035,087.44."  :t  The  work 
now  under  contract  will  nearly  consume  the  amount  of  tolls  appli- 
cable to  the  enlargement  for  the  years  1836,  1837,  1838  and  1839. 
If  this  estimate  is  correct,  not  much  a-dditional  work  can  be  put  un- 
der contract  until  1839." 

"  The  Commissioners  deem  it  their  duty  to  state,  that  there  are 
several  places  on  the  canal  where  its  immediate  enlargement  would 
be  advantageous  to  the  navigation." 

If  the  amount  in  contemplation  of  the  Canal  Board,  when  their 
report  of  March,  1835,  was  made,  could  be  used  for  the  enlarge- 
ment of  the  canal,  it  is  probable  that  during  the  present  year  all 
of  the  work  between  Albany  and  Syracuse  necessary  for  doubling 
the  locks,  and  adapting  the  other  structures  and  the  canal  to  their 
convenient  use,  could  be  put  under  contract  to  be  completed  by  the 
commencement  of  navigation  in  1841,  which  is  as  soon  as  the  work 
could  be  done  with  a  due  regard  to  economy.  This  would  admit 
of  an  increase  of  business  after  1840  on  this  part  of  the  canal, 
where  the  press  is  at  all  times  to  be  the  greatest,  to  nearly  double 
the  present  amount,  which  would  greatly  increase  the  funds  af- 
ter that  time  for  the  further  prosecution  of  the  work  of  enlarge- 
ment. 

If  the  means  contemplated  by  the  report  above  referred  to,  were 
applicable  to  the  enlargement,  an  amount  of  work,  requiring  the 
expenditure  of  $1,800,000  by  the  end  of  the  year  1840,  might  be 
put  under  contract,  in  addition  to  the  work  now  contracted,  and  to 
the  expense  of  doubling  the  locks  between  Albany  and  Syracuse, 
and  adapting  the  canal  and  other  works  to  their  convenient  use. 
The  enlargement  through  the  mountain  ridge  at  Lockport,  and  at 
other  places,  requiring  an  unusual  length  of  time  to  complete  it, 
might  in  this  condition  of  the  funds,  be  in  progress  the  next  winter. 
After  the  year  1840,  there  would  probably  be  at  least  $1,500,000 
annually  to  be  applied  to  the  enlargement. 

2d.  In  the  report  made  by  the  Canal  Board  to  the  Legislature 
on  the  26th  of  January,  1836,  before  referred  to,  it  is  said  at  page 
5,  "  The  aggregate  of  the  estimates,  including  the  cost  of  a  dou- 
ble set  of  lift  locks,  on  the  whole  line  is,  for  the  largest  canal,  $12,- 
416,150.17,  equal  to  $34,204.37  per  mile."  This  estimate  was 
lor  a  canal  of  seven  feet  depth  of  water,  and  seventy  feet  width  of 


No.  53.] 


5 


surface,  the  dimensions  decided  on  by  the  Board  for  the  enlarged 
canal. 

In  the  same  report,  at  page  6,  it  is  said:  "  These  estimates  in- 
clude the  expense  of  removing  buildings  from  the  line,  but  nothing 
for  damages.1' 

It  is  also  said,  at  page  6  of  said  report:  "  These  estimates  were 
no  doubt  made  with  all  practicable  care  and  correctness;  but  it  is 
difficult  to  speak  of  them  with  much  certainty.  Great  allowances 
should  be  made  on  account  of  the  shortness  of  the  time  allotted  for 
this  service,  and  the  difficulty  of  estimating  the  value  of  work 
which  must  be  done  under  circumstances  like  those  attending  the 
improvement  in  question." 

The  Canal  Board  are  not  possessed  of  any  other  surveys  and  es- 
timates of  the  entire  cost  of  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  canal  than 
those  made  by  the  engineers  in  1835,  and  submitted  to  the  Legis- 
lature by  the  Board,  and  which  are  printed  with  their  report  of 
January  26,  1836.  So  far  as  these  estimates  have  been  tested,  by 
putting  the  same  kind  of  work  on  which  they  were  made  under  con- 
tract, they  have  been  found  to  be  remarkably  accurate.  Some  of 
the  work  has  been  contracted  at  prices  above  and  some  below  these 
estimates.  Changes  of  the  plans  of  some  of  the  mechanical  work 
have  been  made,  making  it  more  permanent  and  expensive  than 
that  on  which  the  estimates  were  founded.  Some  parts  of  the  line 
on  which  the  estimates  were  made,  have  been  changed;  and  other 
changes  of  the  line  will  probably  be  made,  with  a  view  to  its  im- 
provement. These  changes  may,  and  probably  will,  in  some  cases, 
increase  the  expense  of  the  work. 

The  Board  do  not  "  believe  said  enlargement  can  be  completed 
at  the  cost  heretofore  estimated;"  for  the  reasons  that  the  plans 
for  some  of  the  mechanical  work  have  been  changed;  that  parts 
of  the  line  have  been  and  other  parts  probably  will  be  changed; 
and  that  the  cost  of  constructing  work  is  greater  than  it  was  when 
the  estimates  were  made.  They  do  not  believe,  if  prices  were  the 
same  as  they  were  at  the  time  the  estimates  were  made,  that  the 
cost  of  the  work  would  exceed  the  estimates,  excepting  the  increase 
occasioned  by  changes  of  the  plans  or  of  the  line.  They  cannot 
form  an  opinion  of  the  additional  cost  of  the  work  beyond  the  esti- 
mate; but  they  do  not  believe  it  will  amount  to  a  large  sum,  ex- 


6 


[Senate 


elusive  of  damages.  The  amount  will  greatly  depend  upon  the 
prices  of  labor  and  provisions. 

There  has  been  no  estimate  of  damages  to  individuals.  It  is 
provided  by  statute  that  the  damages  to  individuals  are  to  be  ap- 
praised by  three  appraisers  appointed  by  the  Governor  and  Senate. 
The  appraisers  decide  upon  claims  for  damages,  from  the  informa- 
tion obtained  by  them  in  viewing  the  premises,  and  from  the  evi- 
dence, if  any,  received  by  them  from  witnesses.  An  appeal  from 
the  decision  of  the  appraisers  may  be  entered  by  the  claimant,  or 
the  Canal  Commissioners,  to  the  Canal  Board;  who  may  reverse, 
affirm  or  modify  their  appraisement;  and  iheir  decision  shall  in 
all  cases  be  final  and  conclusive.  Making  an  estimate  of  da- 
mages to  individuals  might  embarrass  the  canal  appraisers  and 
the  Canal  Board,  in  their  action  upon  the  claims  presented  to  them 
for  decision. 

In  the  cities  and  villages  through  which  the  canal  passes,  large 
sums  will  unquestionably  be  claimed  for  damages.  Through  the 
greater  part  of  the  line,  it  is  not  probable  that  the  claims  for  da- 
mages will  be  any  more  than  the  value  for  farming  purposes  of  the 
land  taken.  The  Board  have  full  confidence  that  the  appraisements 
will  be  made  with  due  regard  to  the  interests  of  individuals  and  of 
the  State. 

3d.  It  has  never  been  intended  or  supposed  that  there  would  be 
any  interruption  of  the  navigation  of  the  canal  during  the  progress 
of  the  enlargement.  On  the  contrary,  the  Board  have  uniformly 
regarded  it  as  indispensable,  that  the  navigation  should  be  main- 
tained at  all  hazards;  and  they  have  no  reason  to  apprehend  that 
there  will  be  any  insuperable  difficulty  in  carrying  this  determina- 
tion into  effect.  No  tolls  will,  therefore,  be  lost  to  the  State  dur- 
ing the  enlargement  of  the  canal. 

March  14,  1837. 

JONAS  EARLL,  Junior. 
JOHN  A.  DIX, 
JOHN  BOWMAN, 
A.  KEYSER, 
WILLIAM  BAKER, 
WILLIAM  CAMPBELL, 
S.  BEARDSLEY, 
A.  C.  FLAGG. 


